Hound of the Vatican...La Grande Contessa...Gregory’s Guard Dog.
Source:
https://twitter.com/koame_6/status/888379396205105152
Second Source:
https://twitter.com/koame_6/status/875897009428865024
Class: Archer
Alignment: Lawful Good
True Name: Matilda dei Canossa
Origin: Historical, Post-Classical Italy
Parameters
Strength: C
Endurance: C
Agility: C
Mana: D
Luck: B
NP: C
Class Skills:
Magic Resistance: (D)
Magic Resistance grants protection against magical effects. Differing from the Resistance effect that merely rejects Magical Energy, this ability cancels the spells altogether.
Independent Action: (A)
Independent Action is the ability to remain independent even when rejecting the Magical Energy supply from one's Master. At higher ranks, it is also possible to remain for extended periods of time in this world without an established contract.
Her father died when she was quite young, forcing her mother to remarry and Archer herself as well. A fairly rapid succession of deaths beginning with her stepfather, to her mother, and then to her husband; Archer realized how to operate as one constantly alone out of necessity, allowing her to remain in the World for an extended period. Of course, this aloofness crumbles in the face of anyone she recognizes as a representative of the church.
Personal Skills:
Virago: (A)
A virago is a term applied to women who have been known to transgress roles, taking on mannish attributes and qualities, and even engaging in war or other occupations usually reserved for men. It is a term with equal amounts complementary and insulting connotations. A virago to one person might be defined as “a domineering, violent, bad-tempered woman”, and another might consider the term to mean “an exemplary and heroic woman”. Neither definition is incorrect, and Archer exemplifies both definitions perfectly.
In practice, the Skill takes the form of a composite; equal parts Nature of a Rebellious Spirit and Charisma. A pathfinding woman, one who denied overwhelming authority while wielding her own as a means to her desired ends.
For being able to personally rebuke the Holy Roman Emperor, Archer is able to negate Charisma on the level of a world-renowned religious emperor. However, her own Charisma only rises to A when exhibited against a target with a Catholic history. Otherwise, it remains at C.
Protection of the Faith: (A)
Protection of the Faith is a Skill possessed only by those who have sacrificed themselves for a religious view. Despite being a form of divine protection, it is not a blessing from a higher existence. It is only the absoluteness of one's body and soul, which is born from faith. But if it is too high, it causes abnormalities in the personality.
During the 11th and 12th Centuries, conflict between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire was at an all time high. The status of the Pope being the dominant force which the Empire must submit to, or the Empire being the dominant force whose actions the Pope would be obligated to defend is something neither side could seem to decide on. Because of this, armed conflict against the Vatican was a matter of course, and Archer was caught quite literally in the middle of it. For 65 years, Tuscany and the other minor counties she controlled were the only things that were in the way of Henry IV’s conquest of the Vatican. Archer fought tooth and nail in the name of the Holy See’s protection, rebuking multiple advances from several Holy Roman Emperors. She even went so far as to destabilize anti-popes set up by Henry herself, ensuring the Pope’s supreme authority.
At this rank, she turns into a complete madwoman when Catholicism appears to be threatened in her near vicinity. She holds back just enough to be a nice lady most of the time.
Golden Rule (Wealth & Beauty): (C-)
A wealth derived from multiple territories and the combined inheritances of multiple affluent families, Archer should have no reason to be troubled for money for the rest of her life. She even retains a stipend of the Vatican’s money in the form of being a “heavy ordnance” capable of being deployed by the Pope. However, her willingness to bequeath the entirety of her wealth to practical strangers is a little…
Her beauty is that of one mistaken for a goddess, however because it is a
literal goddess that she is often compared to, and a heathen one at that, she doesn’t quite believe it. Thus, her beauty is a scarred, rugged kind.
Noble Phantasm
Frecce Lethe
Unmindful Knight’s Oblivion Hailstorm
(Anti-Unit, C)
Although a talented archer in her own right, Archer isn’t what you would call an especially gifted warrior personally, nor does she possess an iconic legendary bow with which to channel her power through. However, she makes up for this by applying specialized arrows to a comparatively simplistic weapon. A power she is able to access due to her presence in Dante’s Purgatorio, in which Matilda is the first woman Dante and his party meet upon reaching the
Garden of Eden
Earthly Paradise
. She stands at the opposite bank of a small river, which she informs the party is the River Lethe, the “River of Oblivion” that runs adjacent to Elysium and near the Styx in Greek myth. She is assigned as guardian and ferryman tasked with helping the party cross the river once Beatrice arrives.
By releasing the True Name, any arrow nocked to her bow may demonstrate the power of Frecce Lethe, the arrowhead becoming infused with the river’s tantalizingly sweet water. A target hit by an arrow must perform a Will check, failure will result in the last three seconds of the target’s memory being completely erased. A blisteringly useful tactic, especially against targets already in motion. While the time erased won’t be long enough to completely negate open hostilities, it will throw the target off guard long enough to plug them with even more arrows. Because Frecce Lethe is secondary magic being applied to a regular arrow, a high enough Magic Resistance is also capable of overcoming its effects.
Road to Canossa
Hubris King’s Humiliation
(Anti-Unit, C+)
A Noble Phantasm crystallizing Archer’s infamous castle, and the source of one of her many epithets. More so than the castle itself, Road to Canossa encapsulates the climax of the Investiture Controversy. Pope Gregory VII had excommunicated Henry IV, who immediately saw a loss in favor from his subjects. Desperate to be accepted back into the Church, he stormed over to Canossa (where Archer had been harboring the pontiff) and demanded to see him. Archer had answered the door, and promptly closed it on Henry’s face, forcing him to stand outside in the freezing cold for three days before finally acquiescing to Gregory’s insistence and let him inside. Today, “Going to Canossa” is still a relatively popular European saying meant to imply a begrudging, coerced penance.
A responsibility of a knight to never accept tyranny, especially from one’s own leader. A Noble Phantasm that can affect the target by simply being in earshot, it’s a “highly effective older-sister nagging Noble Phantasm” activated by berating the target in Latin. Normally, it has a chance to seal Skills (unless the target possesses a debuff resistance Skill), but when applied to a “King” there’s a chance to cause physical, staggering damage, knocking the target to their knees. Even though the sealing effect has only one chance to work per usage, once she starts she might not stop.
This took a lot longer to actually finish than I'd care to mention.
Originally Posted by Dullahan
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